Man, 51, Dies in the Custody of the Police

Several hours after his arrest on burglary charges, a 51-year-old man died in the custody of the New York Police Department on Sunday morning. The police said that initial indications were that he hanged himself in his cell.

The man, Edward Soto, of the Bronx, was found unconscious at 10:08 a.m. by the arresting officer in a holding cell inside the 19th Precinct station house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the police said. He appeared to have hanged himself with a cord from his coat, the police said.

Mr. Soto had been living with his sister in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, a daughter said. Relatives described his behavior as increasingly erratic since the death of his wife in March, and a niece said he had expressed interest in dying.

The police said Mr. Soto, who had previous arrests on drug and burglary charges, was arrested on Saturday about 6:35 p.m., charged with attempted burglary and brought to the station house for processing.

It was not clear when he was last checked on in his cell. He was pronounced dead at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital a short time after he was discovered on Sunday. His death was being investigated by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau.

Though rare, it is not unheard-of for prisoners to hang themselves while in police custody. Two have hanged themselves in recent years, creating nooses from their clothes, at precincts in Sheepshead Bay and East New York, both in Brooklyn.

Some of Mr. Soto’s children gathered at his home on Boynton Avenue on Sunday evening. His stepdaughter, Mercedes Colón, 21, said, “He always said he was going to hurt himself, after my mother passed away.”

According to Ms. Colón, Mr. Soto and his wife, Antoinette, had been married for 17 years. They had seven children.

Mr. Soto’s niece Mariana Cancel said that after his wife’s death, he stopped visiting his parole officer. Another daughter, Miriam Soto, 17, said she believed that someone else had killed her father.